Richard Fortey—one of the world’s most gifted natural scientists and acclaimed author of Life, Trilobite and Earth—describes this splendid new book as a museum of the mind. But it is, as well, a perfect behind-the-scenes guide to a legendary place. Within its pages, London’s Natural History Museum, a home of treasures—plants from the voyage of Captain Cook, barnacles to which Charles Darwin devoted years of study, hidden accursed jewels—pulses with life and miraculous surprises. In an elegant and illuminating narrative, Fortey acquaints the reader with the extraordinary people, meticulous research and driving passions that helped to create the timeless experiences of wonder that fill the museum. And with the museum’s hallways and collection rooms providing a dazzling framework, Fortey offers an often eye-opening social history of the scientific accomplishments of the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Fortey’s scholarship dances with wit. Here is a book that is utterly entertaining from its first page to its last.

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Review

"Fortey. . . in his affectionate portrayal of the institution in which he spent his working life. . . sneaks us behind the scenes with all the glee of a small child seeing for the first time the museum's iconic "Diplodocus "skeleton . . .always authoritative. . . the beauty of the book is that - just like a museum - you can visit the different sections in any order you choose, lingering in the places that most take your fancy. . . and there is plenty of solid science to enjoy, elucidated with brilliant flair.""--Sunday Times ""Fortey has a scientist's regard for fact but a poet's delight in wonder. This is a rare intoxicating insight into a hidden community intent on unlocking the universe's myriad secrets.""--Metro ""Engaging. . . .Fortey's writing is enough to make the behind-the-scenes work of the museum totally fascinating. . . . (his) delightful book, like the museum it describes, is both rambling and elegant.""--Sunday Telegraph ""This book is worthy of the place it tells us about, and that is a pretty lofty chunk of praise.""--The Times ""Richard Fortey's wonderful book . . . shows the unspectacular elements of the museum collection as the most interesting part of its work, while placing the well-known exhibits in a new and often comical light. . . with eccentricity flourishing unchecked among its staff Fortey has amassed a brilliant collection of anecdotes about their habits.""--Daily Telegraph ""In this loving survey of his life at the museum, Fortey. . . is never less than enthused by all the museum's collections.""--Financial Times ""Compendious and entertaining. . . much of the narrative interest of the book is carried anecdotally, by wonderfulstories. . . Fortey gives us a vivid virtual tour of the museum's hidden stores and retired displays. . . . it is a book filled with a passion for nature and pride in an institution that has done so much to compile its inventory. Fortey is a knowledgeable guide, with a keen eye and gentle humour.""--Evening Standard"

"From the Hardcover edition."

"A fascinating tour." --"The Seattle Times""Lifts the veil on the inner penetralia of the world's premiere natural historymuseum."--"The New York Review of Books""An idiosyncratic, endearing, and colorful journey through the towers, vaults, libraries, collections, offices, and cabinets that lie beyond the public galleries." --"The Boston Globe""Fortey. . . in his affectionate portrayal of the institution in which he spent his working life. . . sneaks us behind the scenes with all the glee of a small child seeing for the first time the museum's iconic "Diplodocus "skeleton . . .always authoritative. . . the beauty of the book is that - just like a museum - you can visit the different sections in any order you choose, lingering in the places that most take your fancy. . . and there is plenty of solid science to enjoy, elucidated with brilliant flair."--"Sunday Times""Fortey has a scientist's regard for fact but a poet's delight in wonder. This is a rare intoxicating insight into a hidden community intent on unlocking the universe's myriad secrets."--"Metro""Engaging. . . .Fortey's writing is enough to make the behind-the-scenes work of the museum totally fascinating. . . . (his) delightful book, like the museum it describes, is both rambling and elegant."--"Sunday Telegraph""This book is worthy of the place it tells us about, and that is a pretty lofty chunk of praise."--"The Times""Richard Fortey's wonderful book . . . shows the unspectacular elements of the museum collection as the most interesting part of its work, while placing the well-known exhibits in a new and often comical light. . . with eccentricity flourishing unchecked among its staff Fortey has amassed a brilliant collection of anecdotes about their habits."--"Daily Telegraph""In this loving survey of his life at the museum, Fortey. . . is never less than enthused by all the museum's collections."--"Financial Times ""Compendious and entertaining. . . much of the narrative interest of the book is carried anecdotally, by wonderful stories. . . Fortey gives us a vivid virtual tour of the museum's hidden stores and retired displays. . . . it is a book filled with a passion for nature and pride in an institution that has done so much to compile its inventory. Fortey is a knowledgeable guide, with a keen eye and gentle humour."--"Evening Standard"

A fascinating tour. The Seattle Times Lifts the veil on the inner penetralia of the world s premiere natural historymuseum. The New York Review of Books An idiosyncratic, endearing, and colorful journey through the towers, vaults, libraries, collections, offices, and cabinets that lie beyond the public galleries. The Boston Globe Fortey. . . in his affectionate portrayal of the institution in which he spent his working life. . . sneaks us behind the scenes with all the glee of a small child seeing for the first time the museum's iconic Diplodocus skeleton . . .always authoritative. . . the beauty of the book is that - just like a museum - you can visit the different sections in any order you choose, lingering in the places that most take your fancy. . . and there is plenty of solid science to enjoy, elucidated with brilliant flair. Sunday Times Fortey has a scientist's regard for fact but a poet's delight in wonder. This is a rare intoxicating insight into a hidden community intent on unlocking the universe's myriad secrets. Metro"Engaging. . . .Fortey's writing is enough to make the behind-the-scenes work of the museum totally fascinating. . . . (his) delightful book, like the museum it describes, is both rambling and elegant." Sunday Telegraph This book is worthy of the place it tells us about, and that is a pretty lofty chunk of praise. The Times Richard Fortey's wonderful book . . . shows the unspectacular elements of the museum collection as the most interesting part of its work, while placing the well-known exhibits in a new and often comical light. . . with eccentricity flourishing unchecked among its staff Fortey has amassed a brilliant collection of anecdotes about their habits. Daily Telegraph In this loving survey of his life at the museum, Fortey. . . is never less than enthused by all the museum's collections. Financial Times Compendious and entertaining. . . much of the narrative interest of the book is carried anecdotally, by wonderful stories. . . Fortey gives us a vivid virtual tour of the museum's hidden stores and retired displays. . . . it is a book filled with a passion for nature and pride in an institution that has done so much to compile its inventory. Fortey is a knowledgeable guide, with a keen eye and gentle humour." Evening Standard"
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

`Sneaking behind the scenes with the glee of a child... there is plenty of solid science, elucidated with flair'
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Top customer reviews

This latest book by Richard Fortey is largely about the Natural History Museum, the venerable building in London where he has worked since the 1970s. Unlike his earlier books it's rather unfocused - many of the chapters ramble from one subject to the next with absolutely no links, almost as if the author has just jotted down his thoughts randomly, moving from beetles to disease to taxonomy within the space of a few pages. There are also some errors which a good editor should have picked up on, for instance the misuse of the word "an" in "an historical" and "an heroic" throughout the book, and basic errors such as incorrect reference to acronyms (SNC and VMS are NOT acronyms). Where the book works best is in its gossipy asides on the odd characters and that have inhabited the museum over the years and anecdotes regarding their strange behaviour. Fortey certainly makes it sound like an interesting place to work!

This is by no means Fortey's best work, but it's diverting enough to be worth a look.

Richard Fortey is brave to include the word "Dry" in the title of this scientific ramble, since "dry" is exactly what a prospective reader could think when confronted with a book about the inner workings of a museum. However, enough gossipy anecdotes are included in with the facts and figures to ensure that a light tone is sustained throughout this long and affectionate look at a major British institution.

The author's love of his subject, London's famous Natural History Museum, shines through this book, and it is no surprise when he informs us that he, like many other scientists in the museum who he has described in this book, after his retirement continues to work there "for nothing."

This may seem like a rather chaotic, even random, book; Fortey makes this point himself saying "It does not pretend to be a comprehensive account...It is just my own collection-projects that caught my eye..."(p317.) However, it is saved from being merely a description of unconnected work and personalities of the Museum by the fact that the author does have a strong, personal message to impart.

Fortey argues forcefully, particularly in the last chapter, for the importance of taxonomy, the naming of names, the identification of species as part of a natural history museum's remit. He contrasts "This fundamental if...unglamorous science" with more easily funded areas of research, more "hypothesis testing" than pure investigations into the organisms themselves. This is an area of conflict the general reader is unlikely to be even remotely aware of, but Fortey explains the clash and argues very clearly for pure taxonomy to be the basis of future funded work.

Reading this book, the reader gets the impression that for our fossil loving author, and many of the eccentric colleagues he describes, their work is a deeply held vocation. It is easy to admire and even envy them, working in such a fantastic and magical place.

Oh, how I love Richard Fortey... his books, his all-too-rare TV appearances, his love of obscure marine arthropods...

Fortey's 'biography' of the Natural History Museum is everything that my crushingly disappointing first visit to the NHM was not. On my second ever visit to London, I dragged myself to Kensington, jetlagged and with a raging flu, yet hoping to see just a fraction of the collection that I had dreamt of since childhood. What did I find? A kiddy playground of flashing lights, endless interactive 'multimedia' exhibits involving pushing buttons and buzzing noises, and lots of embedded screens showing films of everything BUT the collection. It was one of the biggest letdowns of my life. If there was any science going on, I certainly didn't see it. It felt more like a suburban amusement park.

Perhaps I am being unkind and grumpy, or perhaps I have gone mad and in my flu-ridden state did not see the brilliant exhibits hidden just 'round the corner. But my overwhelming impression was one of disappointment... especially knowing what objects would have been lurking behind the public galleries.

Of course the kiddies need their entertainment, and museums are a great way of engaging them with science early on. But a little bit of content for those of us over the age of 12 would not have gone astray. I can understand a lesser institution resorting to bells and whistles and things that go 'wheee' to get the punters in... but Britain's Natural History Museum??

Anyway, back to Dr Fortey's wonderful book... I can't help but wonder if some of his colleagues are still talking to him after the publication of 'Dry Store Room No. 1'! Fortey's delightfully gossipy stories about the eccentrics and obsessives he worked with over the course of his long career are just as entertaining as the history of the collection itself. I admit to finding some bits hard going (I believe it was the molluscs), but it is nevertheless a wonderful book that I have re-read more than once.

It's a tad depressing to realise that the era of universities and museums as havens for an assortment of misfits and weirdos is long over, and that such institutions are now just as rife with 'performance targets', 'outcomes' and 'benchmarking' as any other workplace. Nonetheless I am grateful to Dr Fortey for providing us with such a personal insight into the Museum's history. Long may he, and it, reign.

This more than just a description of a museum. This is also a journey into the history of the natural sciences and a part biography as well. Well illustarted, Richard Fortey describes an institution that is trying hard (and succeeding if the new Darwin Centre is any guide)to move with the times, make science accesible to the public, yet has more going on behind the scenes than we could ever give credit.

Anyone who lives in or visits London should pay more than one visit to this marvelous place, and thanks to this book they will be well briefed as to what goes and has gone on there.